My Move to the Big Apple in a New York Minute!

Professionally Speaking...

It was a long time coming.

I had been unhappy in DC and at my company for a while. I started looking for an apartment and job in NY right after the Thanksgiving holiday. I just wasn't happy with all the BS that I had to put up with in the old job. I was stressed out with the crappy assignments I was put on. I was on my out of the consulting world.
In January, I interviewed with one of the largest financial services firms on Wall Street. I received a very good offer ($19K more than I was making in DC) and I accepted for a mid February start date.

All said and done I am happy that I made the move (sans the moving expenses). I like the people I now work with and the pace isn't breakneck like at the previous job. Normally I am in the office by 8:15 and out by 4:50pm. The one thing I am having a hard time getting used to is waking up early in the morning. Normally I wake up between 5:00 and 5:30am to be at work by 8:30. I am beginning to notice that most people in NY have very long commutes - normally 1.5 - 2 hours. I am usually pretty wiped out at the end of the day (sometimes I have a hard time staying up to watch LOST!).

Financially Speaking...

On the financial front I am in a good situation in living with my girlfriend. We live in a basement apartment outside the city. We got a 3 bedroom apartment with all utilities included for $1100. Not bad considering I was in Virginia paying $1065/month PLUS utilities. I will outline our saving and spending arrangement in a later post.

Luckily I got a large pay increase when I moved to the new position. I was being paid $56,500 in DC. If I were making an equivalent in the NY Metro I would be at $62,000. However the offer came in at $75,000. That means that I garnered a $13,000 pay increase by switching jobs. Not bad for a few stressful months!

It is amazing to look back and compare my earnings level to where I was after graduating from college ($32,000) to where I am now ($75,000).

Cheers,
TMac

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